Author
Topic: 1st time bee keeper. Hello from NC (Read 2028 times)

I'm a newbie at beekeeping. I have/had 2 hives. I got them March of this year. I went to check on them and one hive was completely gone. The box had tons of comb in it but no bees. They were just gone. It had ants and cockroaches in it,m so I know they'd been gone for awhile. The other hive has tons of bees in it. Tons of comb in it. No honey in it. At all. There were some cells that were capped. I opened one to see what was in it and it had white gooey stuff in it...so I think I killed a baby bee. Can anyone tell me why I would have tons of bees and comb but no honey? The comb ranges in color from white to cream to yellow to tan to brown to dark brown. ANY help would be appreciated!!!

Logged

" In every life, no matter how full or empty one’s purse there is tragedy. It is the one promise life always fulfills. Thus Happiness is a gift and the trick is not to expect it but to delight in it when it comes, and to add to other peoples store of it." - Nicholas Nickleby

Yes you killed a baby bee. You lost your hive for unknown reasons. You have to check them before they die off. Freeze the frames of the dead out and get it ready for spring. With the other hive, you will have to start feeding them for winter. How many boxes on the live hive? And welcome to the forum.

I'm not sure on the one that is gone, on the other, this time of the year there is no ar very little for the bees to gather so you keep a check on their stores. And you have to feed when their stores start going down. Welcome to the forum and good luck.

Allen F-> "Freeze the frames of the dead out and get it ready for spring." Sorry...but this is a new language for me...what does this mean????? There are no dead bees anywhere to be found with this hive, in the box or on the ground, they are simply gone. Comb attached to the bars,nothing in the comb, no bees." How many boxes on the live hive?" I have Top Bar Hives, 2 of them...well, one now. Is it safe to use the other hive box again since all of those bees ran away from home? Each TBH has 20 bars.I've had them in their box, feeding them since I got them in May along with whatever they've foraged. Wouldn't they have at least have SOME honey stores put away for their own use for the winter? Do I continue feeding them thru out the winter? If I open the box often to feed them, doesn't it stand the chance of harming them with the cold in the winter? Should I get fondant and put it in the box monthly for them to eat?Someone suggested 'robber bees' took their honey stores. Is there anyway to protect against this? How do I know if 'robbers' are there? They all look like bees to me, just flying around.I would have never thought that this was so complicated...but I am learning and I am excited about it all! I hope to one day be the person who can actually ANSWER someones questions instead of being the one ASKING so much!! THANK YOU so much y'all!!!!

Logged

" In every life, no matter how full or empty one’s purse there is tragedy. It is the one promise life always fulfills. Thus Happiness is a gift and the trick is not to expect it but to delight in it when it comes, and to add to other peoples store of it." - Nicholas Nickleby

hello from another NC beekeep , bees going in and out this time of year should have pollen on legs if not at all then robbing.. you can't tell if they have nector but should be able to tell if pollen.. I have top bar hives and mine flew off last year as well as lang's. had to buy this year and then started getting trap outs to make up..good luck JPP.

Hello Ladymerri and welcome to the forum and the wonderful world of bee keeping. I believe Allen was refering to the practice of freezing the frames used by bee keepers who use box hives. This is done to kill out any wax moth's and the small hive beetle larve that most likely are present. The lost hive is lost- sorry-but if you do not know when they left it is hard to say what happened to thier stores' (ie: the honey). If they left awhile ago then you may have been feeding the robbers (possible coming from your other hive). This would account for your surviving hive being so strong. As far as being complicated, guess what- it has been determined (by the experts) that we only know @ 15% about the honeybee and there is 85% yet to learn. It is an ongoing process and with the invasion from overseas - tracheal mites, varrorra mites, small hive beetles, etc.- we are on the back side of the learning curve. So much to learn and yet soooo much we haven't learned.lee...

If you would put your location in your profile, we may find an experienced beekeeper in your area to look at the hives and advise you. NC is a large area.

Logged

"Listen to the mustn'ts, child. Listen to the don'ts. Listen to the shouldn'ts, the impossibles, the won'ts. Listen to the never haves, then listen close to me . . . Anything can happen, child. Anything can be"

I belong to the Forsyth County Beekeepers Assoc. We meet at the Ag. center each month on Fairchild , just off Liberty St. below the airport. Meet the first Sat. of each month. 5:30 PM. If you come in October, you can get a lot of answers to your questions and maybe go to the next bee school. I went last year, and learned a lot. Have been with bees since 2005, but learned more from attending the school. I even won a hive of bees there. And here it is..

If you contact them, they can likely get a member to look at your hive with you and advise you as to what to do for them.

Logged

"Listen to the mustn'ts, child. Listen to the don'ts. Listen to the shouldn'ts, the impossibles, the won'ts. Listen to the never haves, then listen close to me . . . Anything can happen, child. Anything can be"